Warm and celebratory but also sharp and insightful, The Bottom Corner is a love letter to non-league football that is also a vivid snapshot of its place in our national life

Not since The Football Man has a book so captured the passion of the game. The Bottom Corner is a wonderful journey through life in the lower reaches of the football pyramid. A fascinating tale of a very different world of football from that of the overpaid stars of the television age.

Extraordinary

Excellent

An entertaining exploration of the quirks, commitment and romance of football away from the pumped-up bluster of the top flight.

There are some great stories plus plenty of laughs and drama […] I’m looking forward to the second one already…

Nige Tassell has done us all a great service by reminding us of what makes Non-League football a key part of the fabric of British soccer in his book The Bottom Corner… Personally, I’ve most enjoyed my non-league experiences when I have had a team to support week-in and week-out and when taking in individual matches, the day quickly becomes more about the before and after, the drinks and the chance to visit somewhere new than the football itself. So, I’m less of an evangelist for the genre than many of my blogging peers such as The Real FA Cup and The Cold End. Tassell’s excellently written and good natured volume did remind me of what a treasure trove sport at this level can be

In this wonderful book Nige Tassell meets some of the people that populate the small clubs whose dreams often extend little further than winning through from the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup

[Stewart] has a roving, enquiring mind, which makes him on the page…most agreeable company… This roving, discursive book is a delight to read.

The Marches is a memoir full of depth and beguiling humour… His prose is captivating and I hugely admired his dedication in getting to know closely the landscape and people he serves in Parliament.

[A] substantial and very impressive book... [a] profoundly moving portrait of Stewart’s father.

As a collective portrait of both father and homeland, The Marches is a deeply moving, honest and loving portrait, even if Britain and Brian are seldom what they seem.

The book is held together by Mr Stewart's writing, with his short chapters moving skilfully from history to personal encounter.

Stewart’s descriptions are moving… This writer refreshes the parts that other writers cannot reach: he has the stamina and interest to investigate the hidden ‘glamour’ behind regions and peoples with unpromising veneers.

The delight of it lies in his encounters with the specific rather than in ruminations about the general. He has an alert eye for the awkward detail – the things that don’t quite fit with the tone of a scene. It makes him an enjoyable and persuasive writer.

[An] elegantly written account.

Like father, like son, for both come across as hugely talented, hugely driven misfits.

The Marches marks him [Stewart] out not only as a writer but as a political force rooted in geographies so different to London as to shed new light on politics itself… [A] serious politician, social critic, and practical ethnographer at work. As such The Marches is a book for walkers, for those who love the Borders, and for fathers seeking inspiration in their family responsibilities… If this is the polymath as politician, then we need more of them.

This is so much more than the story of their journey – it’s a superbly written, endlessly fascinating book encompassing history, geology, landscape, family memories, wars experienced and lives well lived.

One of the most unexpected and enjoyable reads of 2016… The book fizzes erudition and is delightfully leavened by the companionship of his aged and doughty father.

A very funny book - not jovial in the post-Wodehouse Boris mode but something more taught and Caledonian... The politician in Stewart never had a chance against the writer, a reliable adversary of consensus and cant.

Beautiful, evocative, and wise.

The Marches is a transporting work from a powerful and original writer.

This beautifully written account is a moving memoir of tales from along the route but also reflections on life and relationships – father and son on this their last journey together.

Rory Stewart is one of the most talented men of our era. The Marches takes us from Rory’s constituency to his family house is an attempt to understand the bloody history of the Scottish borders… The quest is fascinating even if the answers are elusive.

As the book unfurls, the march along the marches turns into a eulogy to his father, part memoir, part biography, always a love story. It also contains one of the most unflinching, moving descriptions of death I have read.

This beautifully written book is a haunting reflection of identity and our relationships with the people and places we love.

Stewart provides much food for thought about how we value our past history